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Lobby Group Says Public Supports Their Pension Stance
(IRN) -- Government workers say the public is with them when it comes to their pensions.

A lobby group for government workers called We Are One Illinois is out with a survey that finds that more people think public-sector pensions are about the right amount than think they're too generous.

Pat Devaney of the Associated Firefighters of Illinois is glad the public thinks so. "The average pension across the state for all public employees is $32,000 a year," he said. "That's $32,000 a year which for eight out of every 10 employees who are not entitles to Social Security, that is the only retirement security that they can look forward to."

Another key issue is that pension funds are short -- but the public, according to the survey, says cutting benefits isn't right, especially when employees made their contributions and the employer -- state or local government -- neglected theirs.

The survey was conducted by Hart Associates of Washington April 15-18. A representative cross-section of 807 Illinois voters were surveyed. Margin of error: + or - 3.5 percentage points.

The findings:

* Public-employee pension are the right amount (36 percent), not generous enough (13 percent), too generous (39 percent)

* Public employees should receive the benefits promised, despite under-funded pension plans (60 percent), we cannot afford to pay the full pensions of public employees (34 percent)

(Illinois Radio Network)
05 06 11 by Newsroom
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